Syopa Cusatyo
by ShawnN1987
Summary: Well now our Hero and Heroine have a chance to sit and talk, but although there are a couple twists, there is no action. Sorry. Ok this summary now sucks so just read the third chapter 'Nice Coversations' please. Thank you. UPDATE: Chapter 4 is still currently in progress, but has no due date at this time.
1. What doesnt kill you, makes you stronger

**Authors Note: I decided to take a few minutes to update this note and tell all my readers and fans that I do plan on giving this chapter a rewrite as soon as I find the time to do so. I'm doing this because as I write more chapters and develop my style of writing this chapter looks like a rushed mess to me. No time frame on the rewrite, but I'll keep you updated.**

**A/N: Just FYI this is a 'What If' story in which I ask 'What if Rikku was on the Al Bhed ship in Luca? What if she joined the pilgramage and her and Tidus ad all that time to strngthen their friendship? Would it develop into something more? How would major events be affected by the ripples of change?'**

**Disclaimer: I am supposed to say that I don't own FFX or anything else Square has copyrighted which sucks since I wouldn't be poor.**

_'Italics' _= Al Bhed translation

**_'Bold Italics'_ **Al Bhed translation that Tidus understands

_Listen to my story, This may be our last chance._

* * *

**_What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right?_**

A hiss and groan of pain issues from my mouth as I work to slowly sit up while trying to be careful to not make the pain any worse. I succeed in siting up, but also succeed at making the pain worse so a good shot, but no goal. I look down at my chest to check on my wounds and can't stop a grimace from crossing my face at how bad I'm messed up. I think back to that fight as I wonder if this place, wherever it is, hates me and is determined to kill me. First that stone bridge collapses, sending me into the water, which for a Blitzball player is no big deal as we practically live in the water, but it would've been nice if I at least had gotten a 'Heads-Up!' Then as I'm trying to swim to shore these green fish monsters with claws on their fins decided it would be fun to attack me and while they were annoying and did a little damage, causing me to glance at the single slice on my forearm that sliced through the thick leather of my glove and made a cut om my arm that wasn't very deep thankfully. However looking back at my chest causes me to remember exactly why I'm sitting in this abandoned building thinking everyone in this strange land is trying to kill me.

After killing two of those green 'Claw-Fins', that huge...monster attacked, first killing that last Claw-fin and then turning to face me which was absolutely terrifying and I'm not even sure I could describe that thing. The thing was freakishly huge to the point that if it were to appear in the Sphere Pool back home at my stadium, it would easily be able to touch both goals while floating in the middle, however its size was just the bump on the Blitzball because when I looked at its chest there was no skin or muscle or even any organs. It was just skeletal ribs surrounding an open space and really freaked me out, which that monster used as a distraction to hit me with its huge claw, slicing my chest open and forcing a scream of pain to escape my lips. I had depleted my air supply with that scream so I swam frantically away as it gave chase, but I was able to out-maneuver it by turning sharply while he plowed head long into a rock pile. As my head broke the surface of the water I looked around quickly in the hopes of finding a way to escape. I saw a cave off to the right and began to swim faster than I ever remembered as that monster had escaped and was once again chasing me. It gets kind of blurry from there, but I know I barely escaped being monster food and wound up here, where I was sure I was gonna freeze or starve to death, yet still managed to make a fire and find a cloth vest near a really old skeleton, which I used to make bandages for my chest.

I look up from the bloody cloth and notice my precious fire is going out on me and I slightly panic and beg

"Wait, wait. Don't go out on me."

as I softly blew on the embers, hoping to reignite the wood. However I realize that with all the rain that's leaking from the ceiling and blowing in through open windows and holes in the walls the wood has become very wet and unusable. In desperation I stand quickly and turn while saying frantically

"Just hold on, I'll get more wood."

Unfortunately it seems my theory about this place having a malicious intent to kill me may be true as I barely take three steps before I sense that I am no longer alone.

I turn quickly around as my eyes scan desperately for danger, which appears in the form of another fiend. It's eyes glow red and then it begins to run along the circular wall where the second floor walkway is. As it runs I turn to follow its movements, but make sure to so in a way that doesn't cause dizziness. I groan slightly as the constant movement causes my chest wound to throb with pain and at this slight sound the creäture jumps off the wall and lands on the floor, barely missing me, but destroying my little fire. I pull out my Dad's Longsword that Auron gave to me and prepare myself for yet another battle as

I look over this new fiend. It looks like a large four-legged spider that has three long claws, shaped similarly to my sword, at the end of each leg

"Seriously? What is it with this place and all the _frelling _claws?!"

I shout out as I dodge the fiends attack and swing my sword, slicing a gash in the fiends chest, however it's a short victory as the fiend swings a clawed leg at me and hits me in the chest. Thankfully I'm hit with the flat of the claws so while I groan loudly in pain from the blow landing on the gash in my chest, I know that I just got lucky and should have three new slices in my chest. I try to recover and again swing at the fiend, but I feel myself slowing down as the pain in my chest gets worse and I feel a wetness slowly sliding down my bare stomach underneath my overalls.

Oh crap. I've started bleeding again. As I look back at the fiend I realize that I'm going to die here, all alone, even if I somehow manage to kill this fiend I'm going to freeze or starve or bleed to death and I'm going to be all alone. As these thoughts started to swirl in my brain a thunderous explosion shook the room as a door off to the right that I had tried to open, but couldn't was blown to pieces and figures walked through the dust to enter the room. When the dust cleared and my ears stopped ringing I saw about five or six people standing there, all of whom were wearing what looked like wetsuits and different types of goggles. One of them stepped forward, dressed in a full body red and yellow wetsuit that made it was a girl and signaled at the fiend, who had stood in shocked surprise just like me since the explosion, to attack her. As the fiend seemed to regain its senses and started to move the strange person pulled a large grenade out of one of the many pouches on its belt, pulled the pin and threw it at the fiend. The grenade exploded on contact with a thunderous boom, killing it and releasing those colorful lights that he had seen when he killed the other fiends and again wondered at what they could be.

I looked over to the person who had saved my life and watched as they slid off a pair of goggles, allowing them to dangle around their neck, and then snap off a faceplate allowing me to see that not only was it a girl, but easily the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on. I would've continued to stare at her, but an intense throb of pain from my chest caused me to grab it and bend forward slightly, letting a groan of pain again escape my lips. As I was trying to catch my breath I heard several footsteps surrounding me before I felt someone standing behind me grab my hair and painfully pull me to my feet.

"Yyeeooowww! Hey! Lemme go!"

I shouted, which was a bad move as two of the guys standing in front of me pointed guns at my face and I heard a third gun behind me. There may have been peace in Zanarkand, but it wasn't without crime and there were always those awesome action movies so I knew what these guns could do especially at this close range. They then began talking, but in a language I had never heard before which made it clear they were definitely not from Zanarkand as everyone there spoke the same language. I tried to follow their strange conversation, but it was impossible as all I could hear was this.

"Fryd ec drec?" _"What is this?"_

"Y fiend! Eh risyh teckieca" _"A **fiend**! In human disguise"_

"Oac! Ed ec cu!" _"Yes! It is so!"_

Suddenly a guy with a face-mask held a curved knife to my throat as he said

"Fa gemm ed?" _"We kill it?"_

I can only assume he was asking to kill me when thankfully the girl came to my rescue, I think, when she replied.

"Fyed! Fryd ev ed ec risyh?" _"Wait! What if it is human?"_

This caused Mr. Face-mask to do a little toss with his knife and grab it so it was pointing at the girl while replying

"Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr." _"They are the same in death."_

The blonde girl again came to my defense, I think, for all I know they could be discussing whether they wanted to bake me in the oven or boil me in a pot of stew. At that point I had to close my eyelids so no one could see me roll my eyes as I thought to myself 'Really Tidus? STEW? That's it no more Fantasy Novels. Your brain is waterlogged enough as it is, don't need to make it worse.' I opened my eyes in time to pay attention to the girls response.

"E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic." _"I forbid it! We bring it with us."_

At this the guys let me go and I watched her walk toward me. As she got closer I noticed she had green eyes that looked beautiful, but there was something off about them. As she walked up to me, she looked into my eyes before turning her head to whisper in my ear. In that moment I saw that here irises were actually just a swirl pattern and although they were strange I thought they were amazing and I wished I could look into them longer. However at that moment I heard her whisper and even though I had no clue what

"Cunno" _"Sorry"_

meant I just knew it was bad news.

She didn't hit me hard, but she decided to hit me in the solar plexus, right where that giant fish monster had slashed me and I immediately felt the wound, which had been partly opened during that fight with the Claw-Spider, now fully opening again. Although it wasn't a deep slash it was long enough that I could bleed to death if I didn't get some help soon. I'm sure it was luck that I managed to stop the bleeding last time, although I still couldn't figure out what that weird dream was, that kid in the purple hooded jacket, it was just weird. All of this flashed through my mind in a second as I let loose a long and loud groan of pain as I quickly put pressure on my wound, the blood once again darkening my overalls and sliding down my stomach as I fell to my knees then to my side as the pain continued to throb. The girl must have immediately realized what happened as she knelt down and helped put pressure on my wound as she yelled at the guys watching in surprise.

"Ku kad dra satel! Xielgmo! Ra syo tea ev fa tuh'd ramb res! Huf Ku! KU!" _"Go get the medic! Quickly! He may die if we don't help him! Now Go! GO!"_

Immediately a couple of the guys ran off out the blown out doors and I could only hope she sent for help. I looked at her face and she was starting to cry, which actually hurt me more, though I'm not quite sure why. As she looks back at me she keeps repeating herself over and over.

"Cunno! E's cunno! E's cunno!" _"Sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"_

She takes a shaky, tear filled breath as a couple of the guys that stayed behind seem to be putting something together, something with metal rods and fabric, a cot or a stretcher to carry me? It's hard to tell as everything seems to be getting blurry and slowly darker. The blonde girl is again crying and repeating herself again, however this time I'm surprised to hear her speaking my language

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Well at least now I knew for certain what 'Cunno' meant. Keeping one hand on my bleeding wound I reached over and took one of her hands in mine. She looked at me with a mixture of shock and surprise. I said softly.

"I'm Tidus. What's your name?"

She was silent for a couple of seconds and then replied with just a hint of a blush in her cheeks.

"My name is Rikku. I'm so sorry for this. I promise we will fix you up as soon as we can."

I nodded at this as the two guys that ran out earlier returned with a third man who I assumed was the medic and he began to immediately examine my wound, taking the old cloth bandage off and throwing it aside. He reached into a pouch and pulled out a vial of liquid and I immediately knew what it probably was and my assumption proved true as Rikku placed a hand on my shoulder while squeezing my other hand and said

"This is gonna sting Tidus, but try not to move too much, alright?"

I barely had time to reply with an

"I'll try"

before the medic placed a firm hand on my free shoulder and emptied the vial of alcohol on to the gash, causing me to loudly hiss and arch my back in pain, but after several seconds the sting went away and the medic began taking out what looked like stitching supplies and handed a small bottle of a bluish liquid to Rikku who opened it and leaned close and said softly.

"Tidus this will help you sleep so the medic can fix you up easier. When you wake up we'll be back on our salvage ship, OK?"

I was ready to agree, but I had to ask her something first.

"Will you be there when I wake up Rikku?"

This again caused that small blush to enter her cheeks, but as she poured the sleeping liquid into my mouth, which didn't taste that bad, although I couldn't quite describe the taste either, Rikku whispered into my ear so only I could hear.

"I'll be sitting right beside you until you wake up. I promise."

As the waves of darkness and sleeping began to wash over my brain I was able to whisper two words before succumbing to the inevitable.

"Thank you"

* * *

**A/N: I added in Al Bhed translations and modified it so the dialogue is easier to read thanks to my reviewers Destria Cosplay and Erin Primette. I also want to thank kaito136 and Duke Scarlet for your reviews. I welcome more suggestions from writers with more experience so I can learn to be better.**


	2. Flirting, fighting, fishing

**Authors Note: First off I've figured out that I should probably state that I don't own FFX or its characters so that way I don't get sued, but seriously who would read this and sue any of us? Whatever. Tidus in this story is gonna be slightly different from the game and have a bit more self-confidence and less Emo whining. His monologues will still be intact just less of the crybaby moments. I also want to apologize for waiting so long to update cause I had to deal with real life problems. With that said let's get to the story.**

_'Italics' =_ Al Bhed translation that Tidus doesn't understand

_**'Bold Italics'** _= Al Bhed translation that Tidus does understand

_This is my story. It all begins here._

* * *

_**Flirting, fighting, and fishing.**_

As I slowly regained consciousness the first thing I became aware of was the cold, solid metal against my back that I was lying on, followed by the wind blowing against my side. I then heard the sound of waves and guessed I was on some sort of boat and as I slowly opened my eyes to see a metal beam that had about half a dozen spotlights on it I determined I was right. I looked around and saw two of those wetsuit wearing guys standing to the right of me and as I sat up and looked behind me I saw the girl whom I remembered as Rikku sitting on the deck and watching me with interest and chagrin.

I slowly started to stand and her expression changed to apprehension as she muttered

"Bad idea."

and I quickly found out what she meant. One of her friends turned around and slammed my shoulder with his elbow as he said loudly

"Ced, lybdeja!" _"Sit, captive!"_

causing me to fall back on my ass. I said indignantly

"Hey!That hurts!"

even though technically it didn't, but I was getting tired of being pushed around. His buddy, who was wearing a full face mask, turned around and pointed his rifle at my face while saying

"Hu sujehk, rayn?" _"No moving, hear?"_

I wasn't sure what was said to me so I just agreed and decided not to move or talk yet.

I saw a hatch beneath the spotlight beam swinging up to open and noticed Rikku standing up as a man with a blonde Mohawk came walking over and one of the gun guys turned and bowed towards him in either greeting or respect. He stopped and waved his hand at Rikku while saying

"Caynlr res!" _"Search him!"_

causing her to stand and walk over and extend a hand to me. I took it and she helped me stand, but then pulled it behind my back, yet not enough to hurt. As Mohawk man started making weird swimming motions I heard Rikku trying hard not to giggle and I had to agree he looked kinda silly. When he stopped with the charades I just said

"Right. Whatever"

as seriously as I could and barely succeeded which caused him to reply

"Tu oui hud cbayg?" _"Do you not speak?"_

He then pulled out a pair of goggles and handed them to me while continuing his charade act of pointing to me then the goggles and then to the water, which caused me to shake my head and say

"I don't understand the words coming out of your mouth"

in a loud and sarcastic voice, causing Rikku to lose her battle and start giggling rather loudly.

Unfortunately the two gun-guys didn't have a sense of humor and quickly cocked their rifles and pointed them at my chest as the one said

"Ehcumahla!" _"Insolence!"_

causing Rikku to intervene with a

"Fyed!" _"Wait!" _

She then said to me as she recovered from her giggling fit

"He's trying to tell you that if you can make yourself useful then you can stay here"

I turned to her and said in a somewhat amazed voice

"So you truly do understand me?"

prompting her to smile and slightly blush. However it was short-lived as she let go of my arm and quickly grabbed Mr. Face-Masks' elbow, which was swinging at my head, and said authoritatively

"Cdub! Ra cyet ra fuimt fung!" _"Stop! He said he would work!"_

I looked at Rikku and said

"Thanks. Tell them I'll work if they'll leave me alone". She smirked and said

"I already took care of it so don't worry. Now, this is a salvage ship and we found some ancient ruins right beneath us. There should still be some power left even though it's not active now and we could use some extra help to get it running. After that we can salvage the big prize, although we're not quite sure what that is yet. Got it?"

I give a small nod and I can't help, but smile at the way she pumps her fist in the air and says in a happy-go-lucky way

"OK! Lets get to work!"

I smiled and said excitedly

"Roger!"

as I jumped up on the railing, throwing her a thumbs up and dived into the water, after which I waited for her to join me. She did after the ship fired an underwater chain that led to the ruins.

I looked up and Rikku dived down with me then started to swim towards the ruins that was dully illuminated by what looked like red emergency lights and tried to avoid the many fish that I recognized as Piranhas. We weren't always successful, but with my Longsword and Rikku's claws we managed to make down to the end of the chain without too much trouble and only a couple of teeth marks on the bottoms of my left shoe. We managed to force open the hatch and swam over to what looked like a touchscreen that was still working. I proceeded to enter in the code to open the next door. Although my way of entering the code consisted of hitting random numbers until I managed to find the correct sequence, however as I was smashing the stupid console I saw Rikku shaking her head with an amused smile in my peripheral vision. I couldn't help myself and a similar smile crossed my face as the door finally opened and we swam through and down past some strange machine and down a hallway.

As soon as we got to the end of the hallway were suddenly ambushed by about a dozen Piranhas, however I was getting used to this whole 'Fight for my Life" crap so we made short work of them with out too much trouble. Rikku then pointed up and indicated a very small air pocket so we both blew out our remaining air in a stream of bubbles and used just our mouths to inhale the oxygen stored there. We then set to work getting the generator working and with a few hits to the rusted buttons and a loud groan of the machinery it started up without any serious issues. We looked outside to see spotlights activating and making it a lot easier to see everything, although at that moment all we could see is a lot of fish swimming away.

We started swimming back down the hallway and had just entered the strange machine room when all of a sudden this huge tentacled shell-headed monster ambushed us. I swam in close and started stabbing at its face and slashing at its tentacles while Rikku managed to swim around the machine and sneak up behind it. I couldn't see what she was doing as the monster had wound a tentacle around my ankle and was throwing me around and slapping at me with its other tentacles. Rikku then came to my rescue as she threw a grenade that exploded with a bright white light, blinding the monster and forcing it to let me go. She grabbed my arm and motioned to a hole in the fence leading 'outside' and we swam through it and retreated to a distance before she handed me a palm sized gray box with a squeeze handle on the side. I looked at her and she had a sadistic smile as she used her hands to mime an explosion causing me to smile just as sadistic as I squeezed the handle and a massive detonation ripped from the back of the monster at the base of the shell, killing it and causing it to dissolve into those colorful lights that I had seen every time we killed a fiend.

I gave Rikku the detonator back and she signaled to swim down towards something buried in the rocks below that was brilliantly illuminated by the spotlights. It must have been what they were searching for because Rikku gave me a thumbs up and motioned up towards the surface before she started up and I followed her, surreptitiously admiring her tight wet suit clad ass and smirking at how nice it looked. She climbed up on to the deck and offered a hand to help me up and as we were climbing up she whispered into my ear

"If you wanna stare at my ass so much than just ask to take a sphere shot of it"

She smiled and winked so I knew she was actually flattered and was just teasing me so feeling a surge of self-confidence I boldly replied as I was standing up next to her

"I might just do that after you take the wetsuit off."

I smirked and winked back and was surprisingly rewarded with a shy smile and a blush before she said

"You big meanie"

and then she playfully smacked my arm.

I walked towards the door where a trio of divers were saying something in their own language, but I did understand the word "Airship" before one of them shoved me away from the door before loudly declaring

"Oui, uidceta!" _"You, outside!"_

My guess is he was telling me that I wasn't allowed inside and I just had to say to them

"Hey! I helped out, didn't I?!"

I grumbled softly before feeling a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Rikku glaring at the retreating divers before she said

"Don't worry. I'll see if I can get you a room inside or at the very least some food, OK?"

I smiled and said

"Thanks Rikku. You keep saving my ass though. I'm not sure how I'll pay you back"

She just gave me that teasing smile before running into the ship and I sat down to close my eyes and relax, dozing off within a few minutes.

* * *

**A/N: I want to personally thank DukeScarlet, Destria Cosplay, kaito136, and Erin Primette for your reviews and advice. I also want to thank my favs and followers and all of you that read this story (Seriously I was not expecting over 70 readers on chapter one). I also want to apologize for the wait between updates, hopefully now that I am finding a routine that works my updates will be sooner. No promises on that, but I do promise to NOT abandon this story until I can label it complete. I look forward to more reviews and welcome any constructive criticism as long as its more intelligent than "You suck and you can't write" Also I am probably gonna go back and provide Al Bhed translations for you, the reader.**

**A/N: I'm sorry to Erin Primette for spelling your last name as Primetime and I appreciate the suggestion about the dialog and I feel that you are correct as it does look easier to read now.**

**A/N: In response to Destrias review. In the Al Bhed language key nouns and subjects are NOT translated. Therefore since the Airship is both it is not translated and would really be the only word that Tidus would understand. As to the whole first person past/present perspective, part of that is me trying to find a style of writing I'm comfortable with. The other part is the game really was a long monolgue until we get to the campfire scene. I might try writing from other peoples perspectives as I progress, especially while in Beville, but for right now I'm gonna stick with Tidus. I will try harder to nail down a style of writing that makes sense though.**


	3. Nice Conversations

**A/N: Well after dealing with the Flu, a Cold and that stupid Writer's Block, I'm back with another chapter and feel that I must address something a reviewer pointed out. Yes there will be times that Tidus acts a bit OOC because this is a more self-confident man instead of a whining crybaby. I am also going to try experimenting with a third person narrative point of view to make things different and I hope it works out.. With that out-of-the-way let's get the rest of this done and to the story.**

**Disclaimer: No one can sue me for writing this because I'm very poor. Also I don't own any of these characters because if I did then I wouldn't be poor.**

_Hey, are you listening?_

* * *

_**Nice conversations**_

As our blonde haired Hero sleeps on the cold, metal deck of the Salvage Ship his body gives sporadic twitches, as if in the grip of a nightmare. Inside his mind images of his home, Zanarkand being destroyed by a huge being inside a sphere of water play over and over. Even as the door to the interior of the ship opens with a loud groan our Hero just twitches as the Blitzball stadium blows up. Our Heroine walks over to him, carrying a tray with some sort of weird pasta and sauce on it, croutches down and shakes him, causing him to wake with a start.

"Tidus? Hey, got some food for you. You OK?"

Rikku asks.

Tidus says offhandedly

"Nightmare"

Before he begins stuffing his face as fast as he can, overwhelmed with hunger. However soon it catches up to him and he is in danger of choking and looks around for something to drink. Rikku rolls her eyes and says

"Hey now, swallow don't inhale"

She giggles as she hands him a canteen of water which he grabs and chugs down before handing it back with a nod. He stands up and starts walking away while stretching his arms out and Rikku stands up to watch and wait, knowing he might have a few questions about why they were making him work and what they were doing. However the questions he asks takes her completely by surprise.

"Rikku, right?"

She nods at this when he turns to look at her

"I was wondering, why do your eyes have that weird swirl in them?"

This question shocked and surprised her so much that her mouth literally dropped open and for the first time in her entire life she was completely speechless. After a couple of seconds she says

"Well it's because we're Al Bhed. How come you don't know that?"

Tidus, looking confused says

"Um...I don't even know what an Al Bhed is."

Rikku was very surprised now, also becoming suspicious. After all she had seen the kind of pranks and hurtful actions as well as words directed at her people before and this could easily be a set up.

"Really? You sure you're not some Al Bhed hating Yevonite trying to set us up? 'Cause if you are I promise you that Brother will throw you overboard with a few scraps tied to you to drown you. I'm not quite sure if I could stop him from killing you so please tell me the truth Tidus."

At the end of her little rant Tidus looked both confused and scared at the slight possibility of being drowned, but also realized that since he could hold his breath for a full seven minutes he might be able to free himself, but then again he might not. He decided that the truth was the best course of action.

"Rikku, I have no idea what a Yevonite is or what an Al Bhed is. To be honest I'm not even sure where I am anymore. The last thing I remember is this strange creäture named Sin destroying my home and being sucked into him. Next thing I know I'm at those weird ruins where you found me, OK?"

Tidus sighed and just wandered over to the side of the ship where a crane was and started looking it over in curiosity. Meanwhile Rikku was trying to think through what he just said and was coming to the conclusion that he was being truthful and considering he was near Sin it would explain some things, but she still wanted a few more answers.

"So Tidus where exactly is home for you?"

Tidus looked over and seeing that Rikku was serious he replied

"Zanarkand. I'm also a Blitzball player, star of the Zanarkand Abes."

As he brags about being a Star Blitzer he actually does a very impressive kick, which amuses Rikku and she can't help herself and asks teasingly

"Did you...hit your head or something?"

Realizing that he's being teased he narrows his eyes and growls out.

"Um...you guys hit me. Repeatedly I might add."

Rikku gives a look like she should've been embarrassed, but the smile really ruins the look and her reply.

"Oh right, sorry about that. So why don't you tell me everything you remember before Sin attacked you."

At this Tidus sits down and leans against the metal boxes while Rikku sits down opposite him and leans against the railing and while starting off slow Tidus talks about his home city that he loves with a passion. The sheer size of it, the different restaurants, as well as shopping centers so immense it would take you at least a week of non stop shopping to see everything it had to offer. He told her about the entertainment choices from concerts to theaters to amusement parks and of course Blitzball and the many teams and storied rivalries.

Once Tidus started talking about Blitzball and sharing his stories of the games he both watched and played, Rikku was very intrigued and excited since she was an avid Blitzball fan and made sure to NEVER miss a game no matter what. Listening to him it was quite easy to close her eyes and see how he played and it was quite amazing, especially when he said that he could hold his breath for seven minutes. She knew that the Al Bhed Psyches, their Blitzball team, was good at holding their breath, but not that good as a couple needed a second breath before the 5 minute halftime mark.

Tidus then talked about Sin's attack and was at first shocked that he had survived that fall, but after some thinking it was obvious that when he lost his grip he must have fallen into the draining Sphere Pool, which was able to slow him down. Hearing about how he fought through the attacks by the Sinscales it was a wonder that he had only picked up a sword a couple of times before that. As he finished his tale it took a few minutes for Rikku to think of a response, however she was a bit hesitant to say what was on her mind since it might shock him. Well he needed the truth so might as well get it over.

"Tidus this may come as a shock, but I think you might have had a strange dream. You see you were near Sin and Sin gives off weird toxins that mess with peoples minds and is known to cause amnesia. People don't know who they are or where they came from. The reason I say that is because...well...Zanarkand was destroyed a thousand years ago. I'm sorry"

It was several seconds before Tidus' mind could recover from shock and think properly and of course the first thought that passed through immediately shot out of his mouth.

"What?! What do mean a THOUSAND years ago?! I saw Sin destroy Zanarkand and you're trying to tell me that happened a millennium ago?! NO WAY!"

Rikku cringed a little as she had expected this reaction, but she could also see that he was trying to calm down now and think it through logically. She wouldn't admit it, but there was a part of her that felt he was telling her the truth. However a solution did come to mind and it had a lot of potential.

"You said you're a Blitzball player, right?"

Tidus nodded as he continued to think about all of this. Rikku continued.

"Well there is a Blitzball Tournament being held in Luca in a few weeks and all the teams will be there. How about we go there and see if we can find someone who recognizes you?"

Tidus tries to look thoughtful, although it's obvious he's still trying to figure everything out, before he replies.

"If you say so, but I don't know where Luca is."

At this Rikku sighs and says

"Well it'll take us about a week to haul up the Airship down there and get it to Home. We should get back in time to hook up with the Al Bhed Psyches, our Blitzball team, and we can go to Luca with them. After that it's just a matter of finding somebody you recognize. Sound good?"

Tidus replies with a bit more enthusiasm

"Yeah, although I'm sure you guys are still gonna want my help with the Airship, right?"

Rikku chuckles and says

"Yep. Now you wait here and I'm gonna find somewhere for you to sleep inside. After all can't have you freezing to death after saving you now can I?"

Tidus smiles and replies

"Well if you didn't save me then you'd just be a big meanie"

Rikku sticks out her tongue and hurries inside, the hatch groaning as it closes behind her. Tidus walks over and sits on the deck by the boxes and proceeds to eat the rest of the 'pasta' on the tray before grabbing the canteen and finishing it off. Just as he stands up again to stretch his legs the hatch groans open again and Rikku waves him in

"Come on. We gotta be quick or Brother will get pissed at me."

Tidus quickly followed Rikku inside where she first pushed a button to close the hatch and then down a couple of staircases and down a few narrow corridors. She opened a door in a hallway that had her name on it and saw a small room that was barely big enough for one person let alone two. Against the far wall there was a single sized bed and directly to his right there was a couch that had a sheet and a couple of blankets on it. Between them was a small table that had a Sphere Screen on it as well as a curtain designed to cut the room in half. There was a bathroom that was about the size of a medium closet that had a shower with a fold out sink and a toilet as well as a closet door with access to either side of the curtain. Rikku walked over to the bed and grabbed the curtain and said sharply.

"You stay on your side, I stay on my side. You break the rule, I shoot you. Got it?"

Tidus was actually a bit imitated as it was fairly obvious she was serious about her threat. Although there was no way he wanted to piss her off anyway since she didn't leave him outside to freeze. Therefore he looked her dead in the eye and said.

"I promise I'll stay over here."

With that said he laid down on the couch, kicked off his shoes and promptly covered up with the blankets and started to drift off. Meanwhile Rikku had nodded and pulled the curtain across. She went in the bathroom and after closing the door on his side quickly took off her wetsuit and changed into her night-clothes. She made her way over to her bed and after getting comfy under the blankets reached up and pushed the light button on the wall, plunging the room into darkness and as the ship swayed on the waves she found herself drifting off to sleep and dreams about Blitzball, especially a certain blonde haired star player.

* * *

**A/N: Well there you have it. I realize it's not exactly exciting, but you always need nice long conversations for character development as well as exposition. Also get your minds out of the gutter, there will be NO Lemon scene between these 2 for QUITE a long time. Rikku is just being nice and making sure Tidus has a warm bed to sleep in instead of a cold metal deck outside. The next chapter hopefully wont take this long, but I've had computer issues so until I get those fixed it could be a week or 2 at the very least. Thanks for reading and I look forward to returning in a week or 2 to read and reply to new reviews.**


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